HF Badlands 12 k DIY winch hack waterproof upgrade mod (3 Viewers)

[half k cruiser]

I've had a couple of folks on here ask me how I planned to waterproof my new Badlands 12k winch so I thought I would post a how too. Bear with me as I may not get it all done tonight, but will post as often as I can.

Here's the goals
1) waterproof the winch
2) waterproof the control box
3) document my costs, this will either be a sweet bargain or cheap junk

First off, the winch was on sale for $299, thanks to a Mud member I used a code and ordered online with additional percentage off and $4.99 shipping. Grand total to my door $253.00

First things first, before you tear in go to this link and watch the full video. Its an hour long but trust me there is a lot of good information in there. Included is how to tear down the planetary side of the winch and winching tips and techniques. He also shows a kick ass shrub removal tool at the end.

Here we go, first things first remove the clutch lever and the end plate from the planetary housing. Then pull out all the planetary gears and get them cleaned up. When you are done you will have this.....

Separate the two halves of the winch by unbolting the 4 cap screws that hold the bars in place. BE CAREFUL the cable is under tension and will try and unwind itself in your face !

This is where you re clock the planetary side in case you didn't know. You remove all of those little screws, turn it where you want it, then re install. This picture is of the housing clocked to the factory position.

 

[half k cruiser]

This is the proper position after re clocking the winch, its about as close to vertical as you are going to get once the winch is installed in the bumper. This is for an ARB bumper by the way.

Before you bolt the two halve back together make sure to remove any factory paper gasket and replace with a thick bead of RTV, like this...

Now we can re assemble the planetary side. You need to re pack the gears with a good grease, I used Valvoline Synthetic, apparently I don't have any pictures of re assembling the gears. The video will help you figure it out. Also use a very light coat of grease on the inside of this drum, I chose to use Lucas Red N Tacky ....

 

[half k cruiser]

Another thick coat of RTV on the cap then re install

Don't forget to lubricate the clutch mechanism with some grease, in this case more Red N Tacky. Time to move to the motor side. Remove the two bolts, end cap and rubber gasket. You can discard the rubber gasket......

 

[half k cruiser]

Once the two bolts are removed the casing will slide off of the motor like so.....

RTV the bottom where the case meets the base plate.....

You will need to get creative getting these magnets back where they go. I used several c clamps to hold them back while sliding the case back over the windings....

 

[half k cruiser]

Time to put the cap back on, RTV where the rubber gasket used to be, leave it in place if you like, I chose to remove mine.....

May as well put some RTV on those bolt holes before you put the bolts back in place......

The weakest point I've found so far. This area relies solely on this rubber gasket to seal the base plate and drum interface. I put quite a bit of grease on these areas but only time will tell if they will hold out....

 

[half k cruiser]

Moving on to the control box. Opening up the box you will see this.....

Pretty simple here, every connection gets di electric grease, all penetrations into the compartment get 100% clear silicone until it looks something like this. I silicone everything, everywhere a wire passes through, where the mounting bolts come through and even the pendant connection for the controller.

Don't seal it up all the way just yet, you have some parts to install.....

 

[half k cruiser]

The general consensus is the control box is like a distributor, if you seal it up all the way somehow condensation will get inside and rust out the components. In order to combat this I will be installing a nipple that will attach to the intake and draw constant vacuum on the box.

I also took this time to mount slightly longer bolts through the back of the box. Mounted on an ARB you cannot put the control box over the back of the winch like it is designed. Instead it has to be mounted remotely. I chose to make up a custom bracket for this purpose.

Once you have the nipple installed and whatever mounting solution you need in place you can move on to the final sealing of the box. Its pretty simple, coat the mounting bolts with silicone from the inside, then silicone around the area where the two parts of the box go together. Apply a little silicone onto the four screws that hold the cover plate together, then put them back in.

 

[PabloVTA]

great job!

 

[half k cruiser]

You will need a corresponding nipple at a vacuum source. The airbox should have constant vacuum so I chose to tap it. For this application I used a 1/8" 27NPT tap. When done you can route your vacuum line down through the headlight area and out through the grill.

A view of the bottom of the box after everything is connected.....

A view of the control box in its final location. At this point the winch and control box should be about as waterproof as they are going to get.

 

[half k cruiser]

For those that don't know the Badlands 12k will not fit in an ARB without spacing the winch back from the bumper. Initially I built spacers from 1/4'' bar stock with holes drilled through them. Then I found these http://www.amazon.com/Rugged-Ridge-11540-15-Mounting-Spacer/dp/B00390RLLY . They don't give very good specs online but the important thing is that they are 3/4" thick each, have 4.5" center to center spacing on the bolt holes, and are a perfect fit. Not to mention they look way better then the home brew crap I was mocking up. The spacers also come with a longer set of bolts that works perfectly. The only caveat is they don't include square nuts and the ones that came from HF aren't quite a match. Your local hardware store can remedy this problem.

 

[half k cruiser]

What's that, you need an offset fairlead. Well we can do that too. Unless you specifically order an offset roller fairlead you will need to modify the one that comes with the winch. This is pretty easily done with some snap ring pliers, a drill press, angle grinder, and a tape measure. First remove your rollers. There are snap rings on the end of each roller shaft, you only need to remove one side, then extract the shaft, the roller will follow.

Now you need to grind down the upper ears to allow the fairlead to sit "up" into the ARB. This is a trial and error process. What your looking for is the fairlead to sit all the way up inside the ARB fairlead support as well as sit flush against the mounting portion of the bumper.

Once you have that its time to hold it in place and mark the holes from behind with a sharpie. I don't have any pics of this process. Basically just get it where you want it, reach through the back with a sharpie and mark where the hole will be. Pull it off, take some measurements, then punch two new holes. I went with 1/2'' bit sizing just to give myself a little extra room to line things up. When that's all done you can scuff the old paint up and apply a coat of black like I did.

This is also a good time to wax the rollers and the shafts. That will help them glide smoother and hopefully fight off corrosion !

 

[half k cruiser]

Now its time to mount your winch. I found the best way was to install the two upper bolts, then slide on the spacers. Once that's done you can pass the winch up from underneath. Holding it in place with one hand you can thread the bolts with the other. You can guess why I don't have any pictures of this process ! Also, this only worked for me because I did not have any line on the winch yet. That's what allowed me to get my hand on the drum and hold it from there. Once the top is bolted ( loosely ) then you can mount up the fairlead and install the final two bolts. When you get everything as high as you want it start torqueing those bolts down.

After the winch is in its time to wire it up. The manual for mine was wrong but its pretty easy to wire the color coded ends to the color coded terminals. Route your wires and mount your box however you please. Don't forget to use di electric grease on the terminals.

 

[half k cruiser]

The final step is to spool the winch cable. I am reusing the factory cable in order to keep costs low. The cable needs to be spooled under tension. Ideal would be to find a tree and a gentle slope. Attach a tree saver, and a shackle, this will be your anchor to attach the winch lines grab hook to. Now go back and thread the cable through the fairlead and into the corresponding hole on the winch drum. There is a set screw that locks the cable in place. Remember the cable feeds from the bottom, not over the top. Get at least five wraps on there before you try and pull tension, the winch is not designed to hold cable by the set screw alone. When your ready hook up to your anchor, reverse back until you get some tension on the cable. Put your vehicle in neutral and start spooling in the line.

Make sure you read the manual if you haven't already or if you are not a winch expert. There is a lot of important information in there that you need to know.

 

[half k cruiser]

Well its all done, time to tally up the costs.

$253.00 Badlands 12k winch
$22.00 Rugged Ridge winch spacers
$43.00 Random bolts, washers, silicone, spray paint, metal brackets, odds and ends fittings and tubing

$318.00 Grand total !

 

[MikeB]

Outstanding job on the write-up and photos!

After modifying the fairlead to fit up into the bracket of the ARB, did the vertical roller shafts align with the holes in the ARB bracket? Could the shafts be replaced by long bolts through the bracket as shown in the ARB instructions? It looks like they do align, but I notice that you kept the roller shafts.

 

[half k cruiser]

Outstanding job on the write-up and photos!

After modifying the fairlead to fit up into the bracket of the ARB, did the vertical roller shafts align with the holes in the ARB bracket? Could the shafts be replaced by long bolts through the bracket as shown in the ARB instructions? It looks like they do align, but I notice that you kept the roller shafts.

They are very close but not quite. I'm not sure if its do to the fairlead being a little "Chinese" or because my ARB is linexed. I originally tried to run 5/8'' bolts down through there but in order to make It work I would either need to clearance about an 1/8'' of material from the bumper or the fairlead. Decided to just run it like that and keep my eye out for another offset fairlead.

 

[Living in the Past]

Outstanding job on the write-up and photos!

After modifying the fairlead to fit up into the bracket of the ARB, did the vertical roller shafts align with the holes in the ARB bracket? Could the shafts be replaced by long bolts through the bracket as shown in the ARB instructions? It looks like they do align, but I notice that you kept the roller shafts.

While not on a 80 series I did replace the pin for the rollers with long grade eight bolts which was probably over kill. Bolts lined up perfect with the holes in the bumper. I used longer bolts then needed to be sure the nylon bushing on the end of the roller was riding on smooth shaft and threads. Also replaced the mounting bolts for the bumper with grade eight bolts. No spacer was needed to mount the winch in the bumper I just used to different size bolts. Bottom one went thru the fairhead and bumper. While a Tight fit nothing was needed to be clock to fit in front grill. If I do end up removing it for any reason I clock it and do the water seal as.

Good write up including the vacuum line to keep condensation out of the control box.

 

[half k cruiser]

I do like the bolt through the bumper and roller. I would really like mine to do this, I even have some big ass bolts that will do it.

 

[BigAxeJack]

Great write-up! I consider this process a must for all of the cheaper winches. I will add that the procedure outlined here is identical for the Engo 12K winch, with the exception that I only needed 3/8" spacers to clear the motor/gearbox. Also I chose to relocate the solenoid box on the existing brackets, lowering it by about an inch to clear the grill. Thanks for taking the time to detail this process!

 

[bamabrock]

thank you for this writeup. I installed one of these recently and have been wanting to seal it up better. They are great values